1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a recording medium for use in an ink jet recording method and the like, a recording medium having a porous ink absorbing layer containing inorganic particles on a base is known. In such a porous ink receiving layer, when the number of voids is large, the refractive index of the ink receiving layer is low. Therefore, there is a tendency for the reflectivity on the ink receiving layer surface to decrease, and thus the glossiness of the recording medium decreases. Then, as a method of improving the glossiness of the recording medium, a method of providing a gloss layer containing colloidal silica on the outermost surface of the recording medium is known (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 2004-050811, 2010-030291, 7-101142, and 2011-140214). A reason why the glossiness of the recording medium improves as a result of the recording medium containing the colloidal silica is as follows. The colloidal silica is likely to take a configuration in which the colloidal silica is densely packed when the ink receiving layer is formed as compared with the other inorganic particles. Therefore, since the number of voids, which lead to a decrease in glossiness, decreases, the glossiness becomes high.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 2004-050811 and 2010-030291 describe a recording medium having a base, a porous ink receiving layer, and an outermost layer containing colloidal silica in the stated order. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-101142 describes a recording medium having an outermost layer containing colloidal silica and resin particles. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-140214 describes a recording medium having an outermost layer containing colloidal silica, polyvinyl alcohol, and cationic polyurethane emulsion particles on an ink receiving layer containing alumina hydrate.